48 TiMEHRr. 
by Mr. Mackay and carried, the Statement was unani- 
mously adopted and ordered to be posted in the Reading 
Room for the inspe6lion of Members, A vote of thanks 
was also accorded to the Hon. Treasucer. 
Mr. Quelch read the following Report on the Museum 
for 1897 : — 
ARRANGEMENT. 
The chief changes in the arrangement of the colIe6lions 
have been in the class of Birds, in which the entire exhi- 
bited set, foreign and local, and the large series of 
cabinet reference specimens, have been revised and re- 
determined according to the classification of the most 
recent catalogues of the British Museum. A very large 
number of the exhibited set has been renewed, more 
than 200 specimens of all sizes having been mounted in 
England by Gerrard & Son, by arrangement for duplicate 
specimens instead of money payment. The colle6lion 
of birds thus forms a unique and most valuable series for 
study or reference, and with opportunities for publication 
would afford the means for a detailed memoir on the 
avifauna of this tropical American Province. 
Partial revisions have also been made in many other 
groups, such as the Inse6ls, Crustaceans, Reptiles and 
Fishes, but the want of the most modern systematic 
works renders all such attempts unsatisfa6lory. The 
commencement of a revised edition of the British Museum 
Catalogue of Fishes, will soon, it is hoped, render it 
possible to work up the fishes of the colony as completely 
as has been done with the birds. By the adoption of 
Formaline, which nowadays is coming so much into 
use as a fluid preservative medium instead of alcohol, 
it has been found possible to deal much more satis- 
